Just A Little Bit

By Pastor Eric

My oldest daughter came home from school one day and sat down next to me on the couch. With that “puppy dog” look in her eyes I knew she wanted something. She placed her arm around me and said, “love you dad!” Okay, enough of this, “I love you too, but what do you want?” She smiled and said with excitement, “My friends have invited me to go watch the newest and greatest horror movie and I really want to go….can I go?” I thought for a second and then asked, “What is the rating for the movie?” Her head dropped and she looked at the ground as she said, “It’s R rated but it’s not that bad!” 

I pulled out my phone and checked the movie out on a movie review page. The review gave a reason for the R rating: Brief nudity, strong language, graphic violence, and disturbing images. WOW, I couldn’t help but immediately think that this really isn’t a good movie to be watching, not for anyone, especially my 17 year old. My daughter could sense my struggle and as she looked at the review page with me she began to justify the rating, “but dad, my friend saw this movie already and she said it’s just “a little bit” of nudity and it wasn’t too bad. She continued, “there is just “a little bit” of violence but it was a small portion. For 10 minutes she assured me that there was only “a little bit” of stuff that was bad but the rest of the movie was great. “Besides dad, all my friends are going!”  

Finally I said, “I baked some brownies today, let’s get some milk and talk about this some more.” She agreed and she followed me into the kitchen. We chatted a bit longer as she devoured the brownies. She ate another one as she said,  “Dad these brownies are so good, what did you put in them?” I thought for a moment and then responded as she stuffed her mouth with yet another one. “Well honey, this might sound strange but my secret ingredient is just ‘a little bit’ of dog poop.” “Are you serious dad!” I answered with a straight face, “Yes honey, but it’s just ‘a little bit.’ Just ‘a little bit’ to give it some extra flavor! It’s just ‘a little bit’–it won’t hurt anything.”

She quickly spit the brownie out in the trash can and she tried her best to wash her mouth out with the milk left in her glass. As she gathered herself I told her, “It’s just ‘a little bit,’ what’s wrong?” As the words rolled out of my mouth the light bulb finally went on……. “Just a little bit,” she said. Just a little bit of nudity, just a little bit of violence, just a little bit of bad language. Just a little bit matters. “Dad,” she said, “I will let my friends know that I won’t be joining them for the movie, thank you. By the way, did you really use dog poop?” I replied with a  smile… “Just a little bit.” 

Every day the devil tries to lead us into moments of compromising what we know is true. We compromise in big things but in most cases it’s the smaller things in our daily lives. If we are not careful the “little” compromises can lead us down a destructive path that we never intended to take. A little bit of nudity leads to pornography, a little bit of violence changes how we treat others, and just a little bit of bad language changes how we talk to others, and a little lie can lead to mistrust. How quickly “a little bit of this and a little bit of that” can change the decisions we make, the way we act, the way we treat others, and the distance it puts between us and God. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” John 10:10.

The best way to break the habit of compromising is to spend more time with God, in prayer and in his word. 

Instead of watching late night TV, the latest Tik Tok, scrolling through Facebook, or binge-watching Netflix, spend some time with God. It’s much easier to free yourself from compromising when you are into God. If you really seek out and draw close to God you will find that you don’t want to compromise. Choose to make good decisions every day, standing firm in what you know is true, and give the devil “a little bit” of his own medicine!  

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me.” Proverbs 8:7

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